Always ready with a helping hand

“YOU ARE only passing this way once, so touch as many lives as you can.”

This was how David Garfield Richards lived, helping all who asked and surrounding himself with love, laughter, friends and family.

David, born on March 1, 1969, tried his best to live as he wanted to be remembered – as one who gave of himself to all who needed a helping hand – and could always be seen in his free time enjoying the company of loved ones and friends.

He grew up in Pennant Wood district in Clarendon and later migrated to Tortola, British Virgin Islands, where he lived and worked for more than 20 years.

Even though he tried hard to achieve his goals, not many other things meant as much to him as loving those he had and enjoying life.

From his job as an auto body repairer in Tortola, to several other entrepreneurial ventures, David never let his dreams of helping his family and friends live comfortably disappear from his focus.

It was probably his selflessness that placed him in harm’s way in December 2014 when he was robbed and shot in his home after returning home to Jamaica a few days before, to conduct business and visit family and friends.

Before he died in the Mandeville Public Hospital on February 16, 2016, he told his love, Annakaye Dockery, that if he survived, he would “drive out Jamaica”, just exploring and soaking up all that he could of the land of his birth.

However, he lost the battle to survive the injuries sustained during the robbery at his home almost a year and a half earlier.

Born to Cassilda and Jeremiah Richards, David is survived by his mother, five sisters, Barbara, Blossom, Millicent, Iona, Winsome, Nadine and Lavern, brothers, Winston and Randall, children Celine, Shantivia, and David Jnr, his beloved, and a host of other family members and friends.